Great races at IM Cozumel

We have some great races down at Ironman Cozumel last weekend, with Ed Doucet finishing in 12th in his AG, Art Chasovskykh was 4th in his AG in 9:13 and Duncan Ross went 8:56 and won his AG and was first age grouper overall. Here is an article on Duncan in his local paper

From injury to Ironman podium finish

Duncan Ross, of Brantford, finished first in his age group in the Ironman Cozumel competition on the weekend.Submitted photo

Duncan Ross battled back from two major setbacks in the past year to earn a spot on the podium at Ironman Cozumel in Mexico on the weekend.

Ross finished first in his age group (35 to 39) in a time of eight hours, 56 minutes and 14 seconds and ninth overall out of 1,493 competitors.

His trip to the podium is all the more remarkable because, three months ago, Ross considered taking time off from triathlon training.

“I was pretty discouraged,” Ross said in an interview before boarding a plane to return home after the competition.

“I had suffered a broken collar bone in August 2017 and had a plate in my shoulder for six months.

“Then, I had just started getting back into my training and feeling pretty good when I was hit by a car.”

Ross was riding his bike at the time of the collision. He couldn’t walk for a week afterwards.

“I thought that maybe it was time to shut it down for a while,” Ross said. “I have people in my life who are important to me and getting hit like that has an impact on them as well.”

He said his coach, Nigel Gray, encouraged him to keep training and his family and friends were all supportive.

Ross took his coach’s advice but acknowledged getting back on the bike for the first time following the collision was challenging.

“I was a bit skittish at first, looking around, checking everything,” he said.

“I think I might have had a bit of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but the more I trained the more comfortable I became.”

Ross became comfortable enough to compete at Ironman Cozumel, achieving a major milestone.

“My goal has long been to finish a competition in under nine hours and I did that,” he said.

“Making it to the podium and finishing first in my age group is the icing on the cake.”

Ross finished the 3.8-kilometre swim in 58 minutes, 30 seconds, the 180-kilometre bike race in 4:48:40 and the 42.2-kilometre run in 3:03:41.

“Usually, when I go into a competition I have a pretty good idea what my time will be and where I will finish relative to the other competitors,” Ross said.

“But I really didn’t have any expectations heading into this one.

“I just wanted to go out and do my best.”

Ross said he knew he was in position to finish first in his age category during the run but, when he crossed the finish line, his only thought was relief that it was over. It wasn’t until later that he was able to savour his accomplishment.

“I’m thrilled, proud, grateful but, really, I think what I’m enjoying most is that the people who surround me, the people who support me, can take a lot of pride in the accomplishment,” Ross said.

“It’s thanks to them – people like my mom, Nancy, and my girlfriend, Katie MacDonald — that I was able to do this.

“They do so much for me, it’s incredible. So this race, this accomplishment, is for them.”

Ross will complete next October in the 2019 Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.